Acanthus Leaf - Black Walnut

This is a project very close to my heart. I first saw the acanthus leaf perched at the top of columns in old buildings in London. There’s something about the acanthus leaf that makes it stand out - the incredible fractality throughout.

I had a lot of fun carving this. And carving such an old ornament (found in sculpture as early as 1000 BC), you can’t help but feel humbled – 3000 odd years ago, someone like me was making the same thing. What were their dreams like? What drove them and their creative pursuits?

Here’s the leaf in her full glory - the chosen ornament of Western civilization, the muse of the great architect Callimachus, the artistic vision for over a hundred generations of mankind - acanthus.

Music is my main source of inspiration. Music guide the curves and shapes in what I carve. Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel seemed like the most natural fit. The curve of the leaf isn’t too severe or too mild, the shape not too exxagerated, the grain not too overwhelming to show the cuts.